


Of Antlers and a Mane

by eafay70



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Established Relationship, M/M, Meeting the Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 15:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16390106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: The Reaves family are were-moose. Tomas is a were-lion. What happens when Ryan brings Tomas to meet the parents?





	Of Antlers and a Mane

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! :) I've come to my senses, as it were, and decided NOT to force myself to do all four VGK Monthly prompts every single month! Instead, I'm going with this month's player (Ryan Reaves) and trope (creature AU).
> 
> Ryan's father, Willard, is a retired football player who played in both the Canadian Football League and the NFL. I don't know much about Ryan's mother beyond her name, Brenda. I decided to not include Ryan's brother for simplicity's sake.
> 
> The official seal of the Czech Republic, from which Tomas hails, features a two-headed lion. In this story, Tomas' lion form has only one head, again for simplicity's sake.
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Tomas wasn't paying much attention to Ryan, who was on the phone with his parents, beyond a primal recognition of his mate being safe. This changed when Ryan ended the call and sat down next to him with a soft, "Hey, lion."

"Hi, moose." Tomas frowned at how worried Ryan seemed. "What's wrong? Are your parents not okay?"

"They're fine," Ryan clarified quickly. "It's just...they want to meet you. Specifically, they want you to join us for the next clan meeting."

"What's a clan meeting?" Tomas asked.

"It's sort of like a hunt, except moose don't hunt in groups....actually, we don't hunt at all, but anyway..." Ryan sighed, looking even more worried. "I guess you'd have to eat beforehand, since you don't eat plants. But I don't know how we'd get meat for you, since we can't ship across the border or anything...can we?"

"Do you mean to say that Canada has no carnivore shifters?" Tomas chuckled softly. "I can make a few calls. Maybe your parents have an idea, too, hm?"

"I kind of freaked out and pretended the call dropped when they suggested joining us for dinner," Ryan mumbled sheepishly.

"Well, call them back so we can make an actual plan," Tomas suggested. "Not a big deal."

"I know. I just...really like you a lot. And I didn't realize how much until my parents mentioned it. So I'm trying really hard to not freak out."

Tomas kissed him quickly. "It's okay to freak out."

"Do you plan to freak out later?" Ryan wondered. 

"Absolutely. Very much so."

**

Sure enough, Tomas started freaking out on the flight up to Canada. "I'm a predator and you're prey!"

"Yes and not really," Ryan laughed. "Some larger animals eat moose, but I'm confident lions don't. And you certainly won't eat any of us. You're just going to have a nice steak dinner on my parents' dime while charming them with how wonderful you are."

"I still feel bad that they're paying," Tomas grumbled.

"Don't." Ryan kissed him quickly. "And try to stop worrying so much."

It wasn't easy, but Tomas managed to follow Ryan's advice and calm down by the time they landed. He smiled when Ryan's parents crushed their son in a hug before shaking hands with him. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Reaves, Mrs. Reaves."

"That's too formal for our son's mate," Ryan's mother chuckled.

Ryan shot Tomas a look of panic, but Tomas just squeezed his hand as they followed Ryan's parents to the car. They all talked hockey on the way to the steakhouse, where Ryan's father insisted that Tomas order whatever he wanted. "Can't have a hungry lion watching us moose just stand there!"

"I can always stay at the hotel," Tomas pointed out. "I don't want to intrude."

"Well, I suppose that makes now a good time to ask what you want with our son, eh?" Ryan's father countered.

Luckily, the server came to take their orders; Tomas ordered a large steak with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. The Reaves family ordered smaller steaks and various sides. After the server walked away, Tomas said, "I am very fond of Ryan. I adore seeing him happy, like right now when he's waiting to share the mashed potatoes with me."

Ryan's mother nodded thoughtfully. "There's a certain word you didn't say."

"I don't want to make Ryan scared by saying it for the first time here," Tomas admitted. "I've thought it often, but I can wait for Ryan to be ready for it."

"You think I don't want to say that I love you?!" Ryan shook his head in exasperation. "I've been practicing it in Czech, but if you're in such a rush, I'll stick to English: I love you, Tomas Nosek."

"I love you, too, my mate." Ryan looked very confused, which made the others laugh. "It's harder to tell with different weres -"

"No, Ryan's just always been oblivious," Ryan's father sighed.

Once their food arrived, they ate in a comfortable silence. Ryan's parents paid for the meal, but Tomas managed to put down cash to cover the tip without anyone objecting, and then they were off to the clan meeting.

Tomas sat some distance away from the moose in his lion form. He could sense his mate's inability to relax for quite some time, but eventually Ryan calmed down and Tomas could relax, too. When the meeting ended and everyone shifted back to their human forms, Ryan led Tomas back to the car and smiled brightly at him. "My parents love you, so everyone else does, too."

"That's very good," Tomas replied, also smiling.

Ryan took a deep breath, then spoke again: _"Miluji tě."_

Tomas chuckled softly before kissing his mate. "Hearing that was well worth the wait."

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is love!!


End file.
